I am curious to know if anyone here keeps the Sabbath. Of course I do (the Jewish Saturday Shabbat). The day of the week doesn't matter, Sunday is fine. What matters is that you do no work on that day.

Let me try to get this thread going again. I would like to discuss the Sabbath.

Why keep the Sabbath? Because if you come from the Christian or Jewish tradition, the Sabbath is a fundamental part of your tradition. Like all traditions, modern culture has thrown this tradition in the trash. By keeping the Sabbath, you are making a statement that you respect tradition even though modern culture doesn't. Keeping the Sabbath firmly puts you on the side of traditional culture, against modern culture.

I realized this when my family went to visit my mother. My family keeps the Sabbath, my mother doesn't. My mother has an aide living with her. The aide is Hungarian and nominally Catholic. She is not Americanized. She saw us keep the Sabbath and saw my wife refuse to go shopping with her on the Sabbath. Later she privately told my wife that keeping the Sabbath is ridiculous and absurd. When my wife told me about this, I realized that keeping the Sabbath is a key way to reject modern culture and stand up for tradition.

For those of you who plan to get married, the Sabbath provides another core benefit. The Sabbath teaches self-discipline, planning, and organizing one's time to one's wife and children. It provides structure needed by women and children.

Today the Sabbath is almost completely forgotten, but it was a standard part of American life for most of American history. Even when I was a kid, most stores were closed on Sunday. But to give you a better idea of the significant role that the Sabbath played in people's lives, here is a report by Alexis de Tocqueville about the Sabbath in the mid-1800s:

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In the United States, on the seventh day of every week, the trading and working life of the nation seems suspended; all noises cease; a deep tranquility, say rather the solemn calm of meditation, succeeds the turmoil of the week, and the soul resumes possession and contemplation of itself. Upon this day the marts of traffic are deserted; every member of the community, accompanied by his children, goes to church, where he listens to strange language which would seem unsuited to his ear. He is told of the countless evils caused by pride and covetousness: he is reminded of the necessity of checking his desires, of the finer pleasures which belong to virtue alone, and of the true happiness which attends it. On his return home, he does not turn to the ledgers of his calling, but he opens the book of Holy Scripture; there he meets with sublime or affecting descriptions of the greatness and goodness of the Creator, of the infinite magnificence of the handiwork of God, of the lofty destinies of man, of his duties, and of his immortal privileges. Thus it is that the American at times steals an hour from himself; and laying aside for a while the petty passions which agitate his life, and the ephemeral interests which engross it, he strays at once into an ideal world, where all is great, eternal, and pure.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tocquev ... book2.2.15

I voted yes. I avoid paid work, chores and anything that causes me stress. I don't even like to shower or drive, I consider this work. There are some things I'm undecided on such as using the computer. For the time being I'm okay with this.

I live with someone however that doesn't keep the Sabbath and who tries to implicate me in chores. So it's easier to carry out if you live alone or with like minded people.

People seem to have strong reactions to not working on the Sabbath. I tried to convince my father to not buy groceries on Sabbath and he refused. I tried to tell him not to vacuum or stack boxes and he also refused. Most people have no discipline so if given the choice between having a 60 minute Sabbath or 60 1 minute Sabbaths with 1 minute of work in between each Sabbath, they'd choose the latter. People will argue that this is the same but it's not.

I'm having a real hard-time finding any churches in China; It's such an amazing comparison to see how many churches there are in any given street in the United States, compared with the lack of any churches in China. Religious buildings are so sparse, I would be simply astonished to see a church right out in the open anywhere in China. And sadly...I haven't attended any church services since being in China.

I've heard it said that keeping Sunday is specifically in regards to worshipping the sun, which was the primary religion that the biblical faith was supposed to be against. They say that following any pagan practice, be it tattoos, piercing, magic or gay sex was to support that religion.

As to why the day of the week has any bearing on morality, I have not been given any sufficient explanation either. Religion, unforunately, is often like that. Do it because we said so...

“b***y is so strong that there are dudes willing to blow themselves up for the highly unlikely possibility of b***y in another dimension." -- Joe Rogan

No, I do not keep the Sabbath. It's not because its so "hard" to take a break from work, but more because I don't follow any religion. I just got to the point where I decided to stop being brainwashed by everything I'd been taught by those who were also brainwashed. It's not that I think all religious teachings are bad...quite the opposite. It's just that I am 100% against going along with teachings that require you to believe and live like a robot. I do NOT believe that every Christian feels the spirit of God or that they are led by it. This insanity causes so many problems today and throughout world history. Religion can help you lead a better life, but it can also be used to destroy freedom and life (literally)...for instance.

I used to be really religious, but not anymore. Honestly, I think that the people that I met in church were even bigger assholes than the people who didn't go. These are the kind of people who will pray for the lonely old widow down the street, but won't actually go visit her.

zboy1 wrote:I'm having a real hard-time finding any churches in China;

I think that is because Mao destroyed most of the religious buildings. There probably were many Buddhist and Taoist temples in China before Mao. China will disintegrate if it doesn't find some religion again.

The_Adventurer wrote:Accordinv to some, the day of the week DOES very much matter. They say it is Saturday and that Sunday is specifically supporting paganism.

There is no mention of days of the week in the Bible. The rule is simply to work for 6 days and then rest on the seventh day. So if you choose to start counting on Wednesday, then your Sabbath would be on Tuesday.

zboy1 wrote:I'm having a real hard-time finding any churches in China;

I think that is because Mao destroyed most of the religious buildings. There probably were many Buddhist and Taoist temples in China before Mao. China will disintegrate if it doesn't find some religion again.

Oh I absolutely agree with your statement! In fact, one of the problems with China is that the people here...lack any sense of morality or religious ethical principles to guide them in their lives. Yes, you have some practicing Buddhists in the country--and the Northwestern part of China is filled with Muslims--but otherwise, it's a predominantly atheist culture run by money and status. ...

tre wrote:No, I do not keep the Sabbath. It's not because its so "hard" to take a break from work, but more because I don't follow any religion. I just got to the point where I decided to stop being brainwashed by everything I'd been taught by those who were also brainwashed. It's not that I think all religious teachings are bad...quite the opposite. It's just that I am 100% against going along with teachings that require you to believe and live like a robot. I do NOT believe that every Christian feels the spirit of God or that they are led by it. This insanity causes so many problems today and throughout world history. Religion can help you lead a better life, but it can also be used to destroy freedom and life (literally)...for instance.

Do you believe in the value of tradition? If yes, which tradition would you choose to follow?

Hero wrote:I used to be really religious, but not anymore. Honestly, I think that the people that I met in church were even bigger assholes than the people who didn't go. These are the kind of people who will pray for the lonely old widow down the street, but won't actually go visit her.

I bet the hypocrites in the church you mentioned didn't keep the Sabbath. What kind of church was it? Modern Christianity is a truly awful religion. I suggest you try visiting an Eastern Orthodox church or an Orthodox synagogue.

But as I mentioned to tre above, you don't have to be religious to keep the Sabbath.